• by Les Luchter , January 26, 2022

“Cheers to the Infamous.”

That’s the slogan of Treasury Wine Estates’ 10-year-old 19 Crimes brand, whose latest offering is the first-ever wine from Martha Stewart, noted ex-convict and highly successful serial entrepreneur.

19 Crimes, known for its label images of 18^th and 19^th century British convicts exiled to Australia, has also appealed to wine’s elusive male millennial demo by turning its labels into animated living histories through an augmented reality app (developed with the Tactic studio and WPP’s Wunderman Thompson agency).

Now an image of the hardly millennial Stewart (she’s now 80 years old) adorns the just-launched $11.99 Martha’s Chard chardonnay, joining her good friend Snoop Dogg on the 19 Crimes roster.

With a name evoking the 19, mostly minor crimes that would get Brits sent to Australia, the brand says its wines evoke "the rebellious spirit of the more than 160 ,000 exiled men and women, the rule breakers and law defying citizens that forged a new culture and national spirit….”

A case in point would be Jane Castings, whose 19 Crimes wine is named Hard Chard: “She was caught and convicted for receiving stolen goods of cheese and bacon in Leicester, England,” explains 19 Convict’s website.

This celebratory aspect of 19 Crimes also explains the brand’ s previous launch of two wines from Snoop Dogg, former gangsta rap pioneer who has had his own brushes with the law over the years.

Like Snoop Dogg, “Martha Stewart also embodies the spirit of 19 Crimes – disruption and culture creation,” said John Wardley, Treasury Wine Estates  vice president, brand marketing, Americas.

Martha’s Chard, meanwhile, is the latest salvo in a busy January for Martha Stewart’s own brand, which was acquired by Marquee Brands in 2019.

That same year, Stewart began an association with Constellation Brands’ Canopy Growth, which had helped develop Snoop Dogg’s Leafs By Snoop cannabis brand.  Stewart launched her own CBD gummies, oils and softgels in 2020 and last week expanded the line with three wellness cream products: “Super Strength,” “Sleep Science” and “Daily De-Stress.”

The products, sold online, come in three sizes, ranging in price from $19.99 to $99.99

For Stewart devotes not into indulging either wine or CBD, perhaps fine dining will suffice.

Earlier this month, Marquee announced Stewart’s first restaurant, set to open this spring. 

The venture with Caeser’s Entertainment will bring The Bedford by Martha Stewartto the Paris Las Vegas casino resort.

Designed “to bring Martha's famed country farmhouse in Bedford, NY, to life,” the 194-seat restaurant promises to “offer guests an authentic glimpse of how she lives and entertains in her own home. ‘